Utilities incentivize curtailment of energy usage during certain high load periods to increase the ability of the utilities to meet a larger demand or to minimize production costs. For example, in summer months, peak energy usage may occur on hot days in the late afternoon. A utility may offer an incentive to a factory to reduce energy usage during the late afternoon. In response, the factory may delay a high load production run until later in the evening, turn down the air-conditioning in the factory, or otherwise reduce energy use. In this manner, the utility may increase its ability to meet energy demands during the peak energy usage and/or avoid producing or purchasing additional energy to meet the energy demands.
The curtailment in energy usage during peak or high load periods may be referred to generally as demand response (DR). The energy usage curtailment during a specified time period may be referred to as a DR event. DR events generally occur when a utility expects a high demand and asks customers to reduce or curtail energy usage. When a customer reduces its energy usage by an agreed-upon amount, the utility may provide an incentive to the customer.
In some DR systems, DR aggregators mediate communication between utilities and customers. The DR aggregators generally have an agreement with the utilities to coordinate with the customers and implement DR events.
Inclusion of residential customers and/or small and medium business (SMB) customers (collectively, residential/SMB customers) in DR events may pose some difficulty. For example, the energy curtailment of each residential/SMB customer is relatively limited. Accordingly, the utility or the DR aggregator may limit resources invested in coordinating participation of the residential/SMB customers. Additionally, the residential/SMB customers may have a varying schedule and limited sophistication, which may decrease a likelihood that the residential/SMB customers may participate in a DR event.
Some utilities or DR aggregators communicate with residential/SMB customers via short message service (SMS) messages or via e-mail messages. However, communication via SMS messages and e-mail messages may be ineffective at motivating residential/SMB customers to participate in DR events and an inefficient use of resources. For example, SMS may be expensive for the utility or DR aggregator and may be communicated through a stand-alone system. Additionally, SMS messages may not include sufficient information to motivate residential/SMB customers to participate in a DR event.
Alternatively, some appliances enable control, directly or indirectly, by the utility or the DR aggregator. However, the appliances are expensive to purchase and complex to set up. Thus, the incentives provided for participation in DR events may not justify expenses associated with implementing the appliances.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.